Reaganomics: Too Many Voices

The chorus of advisers is singing off-key

They've all sold out, every one of them." That dour assessment came from Jude Wanniski, a fanatic believer in supply-side economics, after a visit to the White House last week. By "they" he meant members of the President's economic team, who in Wanniski's zealous view have all but abandoned supply-side theory—one of the basic doctrines of Reaganomics.

The economic religion preached by Ronald Reagan has always accommodated the beliefs of two different sects. On one side of the aisle sit the supply-siders, who believe that by slashing taxes Washington can stimulate economic growth: on the...